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It feels like the movie toward which Haynes has been building all along. Haynes' first movie project was co-authoring Superstar, a Super-8 version of the Karen Carpenter story starring Barbie dolls. He also made Velvet Goldmine, both a tribute to, and an evisceration of, the glam-rock era, with Jonathan Rhys Meyers as a David Bowie figure. He also proved his talent for resurrecting bygone eras with the remarkable homage to the 1950s films of Douglas Sirk, Far From Heaven, which was so obsessed with replicating Sirk's style that it toed the line of satire.

And yet, it may be that Haynes released the film too early. There's a 90-minute masterpiece in this film, waiting for an editor to find it. Had Haynes been braver and cut some of the good stuff to make the best parts even better, we would have walked out overwhelmed and delighted. But at 135 minutes, I'm Not There makes viewers feel like they're being sent back to the table for seconds, thirds, and more, long after they had their fill. Near the end, we're left guessing just which Dylan will have the last word.

But in the larger scheme of things, the last word on Dylan will never be spoken. And we can be grateful for that.

Talk About It

1. Discuss the scenes in which the Artist is interviewed or questioned. Are the questions appropriate? What do you make of his answers?
2. Compare and contrast the different manifestations of the Artist in the film. Why do you think Haynes divided his depiction of the Artist in this way? What do we gain from the starkly differing styles?
3. Discuss how the audience responds to the Artist. Do the fans have a right to be frustrated?
4. Consider the demands of a celebrity's life. Why do you suppose so many celebrity relationships suffer? Why did the relationship between Robbie and Claire suffer?
5. Talk about the town of Halloween. What does it represent? What is the relationship between the myth of Billy the Kid and the career of Bob Dylan?
6. Did Haynes' approach to representing Dylan accomplish things that a straightforward, traditional "biopic" would not have accomplished? How?
7. Christ struggled with his "audiences" as well. How did they misunderstand him? What boxes did they want to put him in? What part did "poetry" play in his ministry?

The Family Corner

I'm Not There is rated R due to depictions of drug use and sex (with some onscreen nudity, both male and female). The characters also use profanity. A couple of scenes might be perceived as sacrilegious, but that is open to debate.

Photos © Copyright the Weinstein Company

© Jeffrey Overstreet subject to licensing agreement with Christianity Today International. All rights reserved. Click for reprint information.

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